BEST of luck to Jack O’Leary in this evening’s 10,000m final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.

Son of Eddie and Wendy of Lynn Lodge Stud in Killucan, Co Westmeath, Jack (28) finished fifth in the European Cross Country Championships last December, a result which helped the Irish team take silver.

He is already thinking about trying to qualify for the marathon at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

This evening’s race is due to start at 8.25pm.

In media interviews this week Jack told reporters how he used to ride out for Gordon Elliott as a teenager but knew even then that he would ultimately choose athletics over horseracing. “I was born to be a jockey, ended up being the horse,” he said.